First Week in New Zealand!
It was several months ago that I applied to spend a year studying in New Zealand. I knew I wanted to study abroad and eventually chose New Zealand due to its beautiful scenery, adventurous spirit, and small population of humans. I had initially intended to apply for a trip back to China (feeling like I should make use of my rusty Mandarin skills), before finally deciding that I wasn't keen to spend a year in a major metropolitan area. So, after many google searches and youtube videos watched, I knew whole heartedly that New Zealand was the place I wanted to spend my next year. Specifically, I settled on the South Island city of Dunedin—a moderately sized city featuring beaches and mountains, and cooler weather than I'm used to.
When I finally was accepted into the program about five months prior to my departure, I was always reluctant to share the details of the trip with friends and family. Even though I committed, there were many things I was uncertain about. I feared that at the last minute I'd have a financial blip, or realize that I wouldn't graduate on time if I spent the year here. For that reason, I didn't want to get anybodies (or my own) hopes up, which is why it was a tremendous relief to finally get on the plane headed for Auckland, and begin my first week amongst the kiwis.
The journey, although ultimately successful, was a bit of a nightmare. The 12 hour flight to Auckland went without a hitch, but as it turned out, my 1.5 hour layover was not enough time to retrieve my checked bag, take it through customs, have my outdoor equipment inspected for invasive species (New Zealand is free of the majority of annoying animals and would like to keep it that way), repack my checked bag, walk to the domestic terminal, check it again, and make my connection to Dunedin. I ended up waiting in the Auckland airport for a solid 6 hours before catching the next flight. When I got did arrive in Dunedin, I met my lovely roommates (*ehem I mean flatmates) George and Kelly, and then fell asleep at the early hour of 7PM.
For the first couple of days, I mostly hung out with Kelly and her friend Sophie. Shortly after we parted ways to explore the country. My first stop, naturally, was the adventure capital of the world. Queenstown: The home of bunjee jumping, speedboating, skydiving, and beautiful mountains. Due to a desire to avoid spending two hundred dollars on a few seconds of bliss, I skipped the first few options and spent the days hiking, running, and biking. On the day I arrived I did a short 6 mile run up Queenstown hill. The next day I ran/hiked the famous Ben Lomond peak, which involved 10 miles and a whopping 5,000 feet of climbing, but culminated in one of the most epic views I've ever seen. Finally, on the last day I mountain biked 40 miles on Queenstown's amazing gravel bike paths, taking in the valley and bright blue river running through it.
The entire time I was doing all this I was staying in a hostel called BASE. This was my first time staying in a hostel, and initially I felt somewhat out of place. I didn't know anybody, and it had a strong party-vibe. To be clear, I like the party-vibe. I have no aversions whatsoever to having a few beers and socializing with like-minded travelers—I thoroughly enjoy that. Still, it's not entirely an environment I'm comfortable in. I'm a bit shy and at times do feel a bit like a fish out of water in these settings. Eventually, however, I met an enormous amount of friendly travelers and felt a bit more comfortable with my new friends at the hostel in between my mountain adventures.
As my stay in Queenstown wrapped up, I was exhausted from three days of big outings, and opted to head back to Dunedin for a couple of days before heading off on the next trip.
If you're interested in seeing some videos from my run up Ben Lomond peak, that can be found on my youtube channel entitled simply "Mitchell McLaughlin,"
Cheers everyone! Hopefully everything's going well in the states or wherever you are.
First photo taken at the top of Ben Lomond Peak (5800').
Unobstructed Photo from Ben Lomond.
When I finally was accepted into the program about five months prior to my departure, I was always reluctant to share the details of the trip with friends and family. Even though I committed, there were many things I was uncertain about. I feared that at the last minute I'd have a financial blip, or realize that I wouldn't graduate on time if I spent the year here. For that reason, I didn't want to get anybodies (or my own) hopes up, which is why it was a tremendous relief to finally get on the plane headed for Auckland, and begin my first week amongst the kiwis.
The journey, although ultimately successful, was a bit of a nightmare. The 12 hour flight to Auckland went without a hitch, but as it turned out, my 1.5 hour layover was not enough time to retrieve my checked bag, take it through customs, have my outdoor equipment inspected for invasive species (New Zealand is free of the majority of annoying animals and would like to keep it that way), repack my checked bag, walk to the domestic terminal, check it again, and make my connection to Dunedin. I ended up waiting in the Auckland airport for a solid 6 hours before catching the next flight. When I got did arrive in Dunedin, I met my lovely roommates (*ehem I mean flatmates) George and Kelly, and then fell asleep at the early hour of 7PM.
For the first couple of days, I mostly hung out with Kelly and her friend Sophie. Shortly after we parted ways to explore the country. My first stop, naturally, was the adventure capital of the world. Queenstown: The home of bunjee jumping, speedboating, skydiving, and beautiful mountains. Due to a desire to avoid spending two hundred dollars on a few seconds of bliss, I skipped the first few options and spent the days hiking, running, and biking. On the day I arrived I did a short 6 mile run up Queenstown hill. The next day I ran/hiked the famous Ben Lomond peak, which involved 10 miles and a whopping 5,000 feet of climbing, but culminated in one of the most epic views I've ever seen. Finally, on the last day I mountain biked 40 miles on Queenstown's amazing gravel bike paths, taking in the valley and bright blue river running through it.
The entire time I was doing all this I was staying in a hostel called BASE. This was my first time staying in a hostel, and initially I felt somewhat out of place. I didn't know anybody, and it had a strong party-vibe. To be clear, I like the party-vibe. I have no aversions whatsoever to having a few beers and socializing with like-minded travelers—I thoroughly enjoy that. Still, it's not entirely an environment I'm comfortable in. I'm a bit shy and at times do feel a bit like a fish out of water in these settings. Eventually, however, I met an enormous amount of friendly travelers and felt a bit more comfortable with my new friends at the hostel in between my mountain adventures.
As my stay in Queenstown wrapped up, I was exhausted from three days of big outings, and opted to head back to Dunedin for a couple of days before heading off on the next trip.
If you're interested in seeing some videos from my run up Ben Lomond peak, that can be found on my youtube channel entitled simply "Mitchell McLaughlin,"
Cheers everyone! Hopefully everything's going well in the states or wherever you are.
Mitchell, your adventure sounds wonderful. To a great year. Barbara G. on Valley Stream Lane!
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